How to Be a Heartbreaker
by Kayson3259
Summary: Hanna Marin and Spencer Hastings are two women involved in a dangerous, scandalous, and shady world: prostitution. Though their job is all about sex, it's not all pleasure, especially for Hanna. When the pair meets Caleb and Toby, the two don't know where the line lies between business and pleasure. Things only get more complicated when Hanna gets wrapped up in a dangerous mystery.
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note:** This is my first Haleb story, so I'm sorry if it seems a little contrived. I hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

**Prologue**

"Wait! Please don't go!" he called after her.

She didn't slow down, or look back. She was going as fast as she could clad in lace stiletto ankle boots. "Why shouldn't I? You're just like every other damn guy I've done. You're just looking for an easy hookup. And even if you do happen to be a decent guy, you're going to ask me to change who I am. Haven't you ever heard the saying 'You can't turn a whore into a housewife'? I'm a whore, okay? I'm a whore, and a skank, and a slut, and whatever word you decide you want to call me. I don't know why I expected you to understand. You're not like me; you wouldn't understand," she rambled, trying to distance herself as much as possible.

"That's not true. I wouldn't want to change anything about you," he insisted.

She slowed down a little, not sure whether she was giving into him or the crying of her feet. "Society would. Nobody would ever accept me in a relationship. Whores are supposed to be someone you see only in the dark. They're not the people you'd want in your life regularly; they're just a one night stand. They're not the people you want to be around constantly. It's like people think they'll catch a disease or something," she mumbled.

"I don't see you in that way," he assured her.

She sighed. She finally stopped and sat on the curb of the sidewalk. "Why don't you? What makes you so different? Why are you so nice to me? I'm a whore…I know it, okay?" she inquired.

"I don't know what's different about you. You're funny…you're pretty…I just like being around you. Is there something wrong with that? And you're not a whore," he added. "It's your job. It's not what defines you."

"My father used to say that it's your life choices which define you. I think that speaks wonders for my persona," she retorted sarcastically.

He shook his head, sitting down next to her. "I think you're the one who's scared. You're scared that this could be real, and that you might disappoint me. But what you don't realize is that I've met all of Hanna Marin, and I love her," he insisted.

She looked over to him. "You do?" she asked, not attempting to keep any surprise out of her voice.

He nodded. He was stunned when she came over and kissed him softly on the lips. "I thought you don't kiss?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't," she answered, looking down. "But this is different."

They would've been able to bask in the afterglow. If not for the incessant buzzing of his phone.

"You should probably get that," she suggested.

Though he didn't want to, he complied. It was a text message from Toby. She could tell something was wrong when she saw his eyes widen.

"That's Toby. It's Spencer," he began.

Her heart dropped fifty stories at the sound of her best friend's name. "What about Spencer?"

"She overdosed."

* * *

_If you liked it, please review/favourite/follow! **-Kayson**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: **I'm glad you guys liked the prologue! Here is Chapter 1! _

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Hanna! Where are my shoes?"

Hanna examined herself in the mirror, breaking out of her reverie at the sound of Spencer's voice. "They're in my side of the closet. Sorry, Spencer. I borrowed them last night," she apologized. She peeked her head out of the bathroom. "You got someone tonight? Are you going to the club or standing out?" she asked.

Spencer shrugged. "I was just planning on going to the club. What about you?" she inquired, pulling her hair onto one side as she searched for the shoes.

"I don't know. I was sort of hoping that there'd be someone wanting to get lucky at the club," she confessed. "There's usually someone who's really touchy and looking to get laid."

Spencer groaned at the thought. "I hate guys like that. I choose the guys I offer anything to," she told Hanna.

Hanna shrugged. "I can't be that picky," she insisted.

Spencer came out of the closet holding leather ankle boots which would make her legs look even longer. She began to put them on before she assessed what Hanna just said. "When you do what we do, Hanna, you can do whatever you want. It's the only way to be _safe. _If girls like us didn't pick and choose who we did things with, we'd be dead not even a week after," she reminded her.

Hanna sighed. "I know what I can do and what I can't. I'm just saying that if a guy who's been tipping on me all night wants to do something, I'll do it, as long as he agrees to my ground rules," she reminded her.

Spencer shrugged. "Maybe it's because I have a boyfriend," she suggested, though Hanna knew that wasn't it.

Hanna had a few (about two) relationships _before_ this became her profession, and nothing stopped her when she was with those guys. But something was changing about Hanna. She was twenty-four, and already felt too old to be doing any of it. Maybe it was the fact that she was just _tired_. Tired of not being in relationships. Tired of being passed around like a joint. Tired of sex, in general. She was certain that if she quit her job today, she would never have to have sex again. It wasn't that she hated it, but she hated the idea of it being completely and utterly meaningless.

Somewhere deep down, she knew that she would likely never change her idea on that. She would never find someone who would change her idea on it.

She looked over her shoulder at Spencer, who was digging around her bag, looking for something. Hanna cringed. "What are you doing, Spencer?" She already didn't like where this was going.

Spencer opened a box with some syringes and white powder. "Do you want any?" she offered.

Hanna winced. "You already know I don't use," she said. "You shouldn't, either."

Spencer seemingly ignored her as she began to prepare the drugs. Hanna rolled her eyes. Truth be told, Spencer wasn't even _good_ at taking drugs. Not that Hanna had ever injected any, but she knew that you were supposed to be able to inject yourself without bleeding nearly every time. Spencer had scars which she concealed with foundation all up and down her arms. She was terrible at injecting herself. Hanna couldn't stand to watch it.

"Could you please just snort it, Spencer? I don't want to deal with you bleeding _again_," Hanna suggested dramatically.

Spencer scowled at her. She really didn't like snorting drugs, but would do it since she truthfully didn't enjoy stabbing herself and removing the syringe to blood everywhere, either.

Hanna watched. The whole act of watching Spencer get somewhat high off of the drugs felt morbid and wrong to Hanna. She hated it. But she knew it was Spencer's form of escape. It was a vice she had, but when a person dealt with the kinds of people they dealt with on a daily basis, some sort of escapism was required.

Hanna's device of choice was alcohol. She downed two shots of tequila every night before she began working. It wasn't enough to get her drunk, but just a little more carefree and…numb. She needed that.

"Did Ethan give you that?" Hanna asked bluntly.

Spencer nodded. "I think it's a hundred dollars' worth," she added before she fell onto the bed. She sighed.

Hanna wondered if her friend even knew how toxic of a relationship she had. It was sick. Hanna wondered secretly if her boyfriend was a sex addict. He asked her for sexual favors, and in turn, he gave her whichever drugs she wanted. She knew there probably were no feelings in the relationship, as it was more like an agreement between the both of them. The only thing she could possibly hate Ethan for was fueling Spencer's drug habit.

"We'd better go, Spence," Hanna insisted, dragging Spencer out the door.

* * *

Both girls got ready for their shifts in the back room of the club. They found their friend Jasmine already there, getting ready.

Jasmine was a small, but feisty Hispanic girl. Hanna met her when they both began working at around the same time. She had large brown eyes, tan skin, and straight brown hair. She was about 5'1".

"Are you ready for tonight?" Jasmine asked, putting another coat of lip gloss on her lips.

Hanna furrowed her eyebrows. "What's so special about tonight?" she asked.

Jasmine shrugged. "It's Friday night, also one of the busiest days of the week," she reminded them. Hanna nodded. "I'm not really in the mood to do this, but I have some bills that need to be paid, and soon," she informed Hanna.

"Do you want to take your shots with me?"

Like Hanna, Jasmine often turned to a few shots to blur what she was doing. She didn't like it much, but was well aware that it provided a nice amount of money to live off of.

The two quickly left Spencer alone in the back to continue getting ready.

* * *

"Do I look like Hanna?" she asked, fixing her hair in the mirror.

Spencer looked over to her. "You ask me this question every time, Hanna. And every time, I give you the same answer."

Hanna sighed. "Right. I look like Hanna but…sluttier. And more jaded. And what are you even trying to tell me?" she asked.

Spencer shrugged. "You just look different. Tired," she said.

That always got to her. She didn't know what was so different about her when she put on this persona. Sometimes she wondered if it was the fake bangs and the twenty-inch long, pin straight hair. At the end, she had no idea what it was. Even though some people saw it as trashy, Hanna sometimes considered it to be…eye-opening, in a way. She saw things that most people didn't. And contrary to the popular belief of a man being a sweaty, hormonal mess when they bought her for the night, most of the time, they were just lost. They were usually married or in a relationship, but they just felt alone and confused. They wanted to talk to a third party who wouldn't judge them.

Soon after Hanna began selling herself, she realized that it wasn't like those horror stories that were often perpetuated in movies; she wasn't being tossed around roughly. She made her own rules. If a man didn't comply with them, she would walk away. Often times, they just wanted the sex, and they didn't really care about wearing a condom or that there was no kissing allowed. Those were pretty much Hanna's only rules.

"Come on, Hanna," Spencer called.

Hanna looked over at Spencer. She, too, looked very different. Her hair was long and straight, thanks to similarly long extensions. Hanna concluded that it was Spencer's attempt to preserve _some _sort of modesty, as it reached down to the small of her back.

Hanna snorted at the idea of being modest in this business. She'd always been an ostentatious person, but even this sometimes made her uncomfortable.

Her emotions about this job would keep wavering, but each and every time, she would tell herself the same thing—this was the only job she could get. She was not mentally, financially, or emotionally stable for anything else. This was the only job a girl like her could have.

* * *

Now, Hanna was in the middle of a scenario she knew well—she was in a hotel room with a man from the club. Prior to entering his room, she had made it quite clear what she was looking for—sex for money. There would be no kissing, no cuddling, or anything even close to showing real affection. They would part ways once she left the room, and that would be the end of any interactions they had.

She was quite content with that agreement.

"Twelve-hundred," she said as she straightened the dress she was wearing.

She walked out of the room, examining the bills she had just gotten, and then putting them into a wad in her jacket pocket. Combined with the money she had gotten in tips, she would be fine for a while.

* * *

"Spencer?" Hanna called out as she entered the apartment they shared. It wasn't fancy. It was pretty nice for just the two of them, but when you made as much money as they could in a single night, a place like this was affordable.

"Hanna?" called a voice from inside Spencer's bedroom.

Hanna's heels clacked on the floor as she walked over to Spencer's room. Spencer was reading. "Are you ready for the night total?" she asked.

Spencer nodded, reaching into her nightstand where she kept a large wad of bills. The two of them walked over to the kitchen counter. Hanna pulled out the bills from her coat pocket.

Spencer sighed, then smiled. "Are you ready to count this out?"

Hanna nodded. They arranged the money into piles, like OCD Spencer suggested they do when they started this long ago. There were several ones, fives, and tens, and Spencer even managed to get a fifty dollar bill from someone. She figured they were probably just really drunk and didn't pay attention to what they were throwing at her.

"Did you give anything extra tonight?" Hanna asked.

Spencer shook her head. "Did you?"

Hanna nodded, gesturing to a separate wad. "They wanted me for three hours. I made twelve-hundred," she informed her.

Spencer nodded, as she began counting up the total and writing it all down on a note-pad.

"What about Ethan?" Hanna asked cautiously. She knew he was a touchy subject, since Spencer insisted it was a real relationship. Hanna saw things for what they really were—a business deal.

Spencer nodded. "He was over. He said he gave me a hundred and fifty dollars of coke," she said sheepishly, trying to avoid Hanna's gaze.

"Did you use it?"

Spencer rolled her eyes and scoffed. "No, _Mom. _I try to only use before we go to work," she insisted.

Hanna shrugged it off, not wanting to get into this argument with her.

"What about you? Did you take money out of this for scotch?" Spencer retorted, testing Hanna.

Hanna scowled. "I actually mean what I say when I tell you I only drink before work. And I don't get _high_ like you do."

"You just get drunk," Spencer snapped.

Hanna rolled her eyes, not willing to pursue this any further. "Can you please just tell me how much we made tonight?"

Spencer finished adding the total. "Let's see…I made eight hundred, minus the house fee, which is two-hundred. You made nine-hundred—seems people were in the mood for blonde tonight—and then subtract the house fee. We made one thousand three-hundred. And then add in the twelve hundred is two thousand three-hundred," Spencer announced. She looked at it, rather impressed. "We did well tonight."

Hanna nodded. She was satisfied. "Where are we putting it?" she asked.

Spencer looked around the apartment. "Well, first we should take out the thirteen hundred for the rent, which is due this weekend. Could you drop it off by the landlord's house?" she asked. She began to sort out the money, taking out the rent amount. "That's for the rent. I guess we could figure out where to put the rest. And remember, Hanna, small amounts."

Hanna smirked. "I know, Spence."

Hanna and Spencer were both convinced that banks just screwed everything up for people, playing with their money. Spencer suggested early on that they hide all their cash in small amounts around the apartment. They were in the most mundane places a person would never look—fifty dollars in the cookie jar, thirty dollars in the loose floorboards near Hanna's room, another thirty under the loose floorboards in the living room, a hundred in a cut section of Spencer's _Pride and Prejudice…_if you picked apart the entire apartment, possession by possession, you could probably find at least a thousand dollars in each room alone. Spencer, with her meticulous memory, recalled every single hiding spot in their entire apartment and the exact amount in each. Hanna still had no idea what all the money was for, but Spencer insisted it was in case they ever needed to drop everything and run, as the bank would leave a paper trail for the police to follow.

The police.

Hanna thought about how either one of them could be arrested at any given time—for prostitution, for possession of illegal substances (well, that was on Spencer, but since Hanna lived with her, it was possible for her to be charged with that, too), and probably many more things. She wasn't sure whether the notion of danger scared or exhilarated her. It was hard to pinpoint it exactly. She enjoyed the rush, but hated thinking of the repercussions of her actions.

Spencer put the money in an envelope and wrote the landlord's name on it, setting it aside. She turned to Hanna. "Sorry about bringing alcohol up. I wanted to ask you something. Your birthday is coming up, and I wanted to know what you wanted to do," Spencer told her.

Hanna shrugged. "You know I'm okay with staying here and curling up on the couch, watching romantic comedies and eating our bodyweight in Ben & Jerry's, right?" she inquired. "And I absolutely want to take off that day."

Spencer nodded. "I know, but it's your twenty-fifth birthday. I figured that you might want to do something special. You're usually so low key on it, and for a stupid reason."

"I didn't think that being a year closer to dying was stupid," Hanna said sardonically.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Just please, think about it. For once, maybe you could have a nice night."

Hanna thought of that as she opened the freezer and pulled out her favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry's: Chunky Monkey.

_Is my life really that miserable?_

* * *

**_euphoric-acidosis: _**_I've actually read a Spencer/Toby fic where Spencer was a prostitute, but this story is going to be absolutely nothing like that one (at least, from what I remember of that story). I offered you an idea, but you rejected it..._

**_AL3110:_**_Do you need a shoulder to cry on, Alliecat? Love you, too. _

**_CarsasaAllakay:_**_I think I reviewed, but I'm not positive. I'm sorry, I've just had an influx of stuff I actually have to do, plus anxiety from school. But I am reading it. I will be sure to talk about it when I get the chance. I just need to remember. I'll make a mental sticky-note. _

**_Guest:_**_I'm good with cliffy cliff-hangers! Hope you liked it and didn't hate me too much for it :) _

**_Elana01299: _**_Glad you love love loved it. _

**_AlwaysYouTobyCavanaugh: _**_I'm glad you liked it and I hope you liked this chapter. _

**_ .Ashwee.11: _**_I'm sorry it took me so long, but I just wanted to make sure it was good :)_

**_sadserenades:_**_I'm really glad you liked the prologue and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

**_eveningshades1107: _**_Spencer will always be my fav, but Hanna will always be a very, very close second. Yeah, well, angst is my first genre. I've been getting way too soft lately. I've missed my angst. I need it. _

**_SpobyTreegan:_**_Well, I am a hardcore Spobette, but this story focuses mostly on Hanna and therefore Haleb is the primary couple, but trust me, there will be a lot of Spoby, too. I hope that doesn't change your opinion on it, though!_

**_spobylover1237:_**_Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter!_

_I hope you liked this chapter! This was really more of an establishing chapter. Toby and Caleb will be in the next chapter, though. I promise ;) **-Kayson**_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: **You guys will finally get to meet Toby and Caleb in this chapter! And here are your first doses of Spoby and Haleb :) _

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"Spencer? Spencer, wake up. We're going to be late," Hanna said.

Spencer groaned, burying her head into a pillow. "Five more minutes, Hanna," she pleaded.

"No, I need to talk to you. I want to make sure you're fine with getting home tonight by yourself. I have to meet my dad for some weird reason tomorrow morning, and I think we'd all appreciate it if I didn't roll into his house with period clothes and morning breath. I'm leaving early tonight. Are you okay getting home?" she asked.

Spencer shrugged. "I'm fine with it. Are you sure you're okay with going to your dad's alone?" she asked.

Hanna nodded. "Positive. Afterwards, I have to go to the doctor," she informed Spencer.

"Has it been three months already?" Spencer asked.

The two of them went to the OB/GYN every three months to check for STDs and STIs. Hanna was proud to be able to say that in all the time she was a prostitute, she had never gotten an STD, STI, or had ever been pregnant. She was religious about her birth control, and she had never had sex without a condom.

If nothing else, she was proud that she could at least take care of her body.

"Alright, next question, then. _How _are you getting home?" Hanna inquired.

"Ethan is bringing me."

To say Hanna was less than pleased with that would be an understatement.

"Hanna, I trust him. He's my boyfriend."

"He's your drug dealer."

Spencer just rolled her eyes. "You're not a saint, Hanna," she mumbled passive-aggressively.

Hanna shook her head. "Whatever. I have to go. If you get hurt, it's your own fault," she said sternly.

* * *

Jasmine peeked out at the main floor of the club. "It looks pretty empty out there. And…nobody looks in the mood for a short brunette," she commented. She turned back to Spencer. "Maybe a tall one would suffice? I know I'd _certainly _buy you if you were wearing something which showed off your miles of legs," Jasmine said as she looked Spencer up and down.

"You think?" she inquired. "Maybe. I don't know. I was getting ready to call it a night. I know I'm not supposed to leave for another hour, but…I don't think Trent would mind. It looks pretty dead tonight. It's Sunday. Aren't people supposed to be holy today?" she inquired.

Jasmine laughed. "Like _you_ know anything about being holy! The closest you've probably ever gotten to 'holy' is a really dirty Catholic school-girl role play costume that would make even a nun swear," she reminded her.

Spencer sighed. "You're not going to let me go out there _alone_, are you? Hanna already jumped ship to prepare for a meeting with her dad or something," she said with a slight eye roll.

"Fine, I'll come with you. But if anyone makes any obscene gestures, Hastings…" she began with a warning tone.

"I will kick them in the scrotum and it'll hurt. I promise," Spencer assured her with a small smile.

* * *

Fifteen or twenty minutes later, she was leading someone back to a private room for a private dance. Secretly, her heart always beat a little bit faster when she gave someone a private dance. She knew it was still in the club and there was a very strict rule against locking the doors, but she couldn't help but fear that one day…a private dance would be the end of her.

What made her laugh was how much the tips could vary. There was one time she got a really measly tip from one really good dance. Then, there was another where the man practically gave her a down-payment on a car for one mediocre dance.

Tonight, she wasn't sure what to expect from this guy. He looked oddly and almost painfully familiar; it almost hurt that she couldn't remember where she knew him from.

"Do I know you?" she asked abruptly as she closed the door.

He was quiet.

"You look really familiar. Have you been here before?"

"I came here with a friend like a week ago."

She raised an eyebrow. "I guess you couldn't get enough," she commented.

"You're very pretty."

She laughed bitterly. "You can cut the 'pretty' crap. I know it's because of my legs, isn't it?"

He looked rather surprised with her forwardness. Of course, strippers were probably…_gutsier _than the average person. But it didn't seem very stripper-like to be so brusque…not that he knew a lot of strippers.

"Do you want the dance or not?" she asked finally.

He bit his lip. She rolled her eyes patronizingly and pushed him back on the seat in the room. She leaned over his shoulder from behind and whispered, "You know I'm going to ruin this for you, right?"

He gulped. "Why?"

She had a small smirk on her lips. "Because you're not going to want anyone else but me after this."

* * *

Hanna tapped her nails nervously on the countertop as she waited for Spencer. Spencer promised her she'd be back as soon as her shift was over. It was now about fifty minutes after Spencer should've been home. She still wasn't here.

The meeting with her father had been a disaster she couldn't even discuss (nor remember, for that matter), so she had gotten home early.

As the minutes ticked by, she grew more and more anxious. This was so uncharacteristic of Spencer.

By the one hour mark, Hanna was walking towards the door. Spencer was in _a lot _of trouble.

* * *

Hanna pulled her sweater closer. Her heels tapped on the concrete sidewalk as she rounded the corner onto the street where the club was.

She stood hesitantly on the other side of the street. She was _very _apprehensive about staying out this late at night on _this _side of town. It just sounded like an accident waiting to happen. She opted for going in through the back entrance. Hopefully, Trent, the owner of the club, either wasn't there or wouldn't mind that she stopped by even though she wasn't working.

She sighed as she walked past the main entrance of the club. She hesitated just going in to see if Spencer was still in there.

As she was contemplating going inside, someone stumbled out of the bar.

_Probably just some drunken idiot_.

She looked the guy over a few times. Usually, on Sundays, it was mainly the same people. But she'd never seen this guy before.

He looked pretty annoyed. He walked over to the other side of the door and leaned against the wall. He had that bad boy look, even though he was probably at least twenty-five. He was pretty sulky.

Two could play that game. She sighed dramatically before copying his stance. She liked playing mind games sometimes and this guy seemed suspicious. Aside from his demeanor and overall look, hardly anyone was still there at one in the morning so she was wondering what he knew.

When she felt him staring at her, she turned her head slightly. "What are you looking at?" she asked snappily.

"What are you doing out so late _here_, of all places?" he asked.

Hanna narrowed her eyes. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Let me rephrase the question. What are you doing out so late, _Princess?_"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You don't know me, _asshole_," she responded roughly before she walked around the side so she could enter the back room.

Hanna walked in the back. Aside from a few girls' things who worked from midnight until closing, everyone's stuff was gone. Except for Spencer's. Like she needed another reason to freak out.

After having a mini-heart attack, Hanna spotted Spencer out of the corner of her eye. Spencer was tying her silk robe over the lingerie set she was wearing.

"Spencer! What the hell are you still doing here?" she demanded.

"Calm down, Hanna!" Spencer responded. She pulled out a sweatshirt from her bag. "Why are you getting so bent out of shape?"

"You were supposed to be back at the apartment like two hours ago. What else was I supposed to do?" Hanna asked.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Hanna, I was just giving someone a private."

"For two whole hours?"

Spencer was silent. "Well…no. I mean…I stayed a little longer than I thought I would. And then I had two privates. The first one was over fast and I got a lot of money for that one, but the second one was…" she trailed off.

Hanna groaned. "Please don't tell me you did it in the back room. You know that we have to use that, too."

That earned another eye roll from Spencer. "No. I knew him from somewhere. I know it. He was a newbie. Hot, but he was too…_good _to be at a strip club," Spencer explained as she slid on some leggings. "He didn't want to _hurt _me or _pressure _me into anything or make me _feel bad_." The way Spencer said that was like she thought it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.

"He was hot?" Hanna asked shyly.

Spencer smiled. "Yeah, he was really cute. I mean, a couple of guys who come here are cute. Some of them are just really desperate, but there are some who are cute. But it's rare that you find a guy who's not only cute, but keeps his hands to himself without being a cocky, self-righteous ass."

Hanna nodded in agreement. She sighed. "Spencer, seriously, don't ever do that again."

"Thanks for worrying about me, but I think I already know a thing or two about protecting myself."

* * *

"What were you doing? Getting married?" Caleb asked when Toby finally walked out.

Toby sighed. "It was _your _stupid idea."

"Obviously, you liked it, so it wasn't that stupid," Caleb retorted. Toby rolled his eyes. "Don't pretend you didn't, Cavanaugh."

"She was pretty. Happy?" he asked.

"You're too good for your own good," Caleb insisted, which only earned him another eye-roll.

* * *

"Jasmine and I decided that we're taking you to the Liquid Lounge for your birthday," Spencer informed Hanna the next afternoon. "You can't say no."

Hanna sighed. "I already told you that I didn't want to do anything, Spence."

"You have to celebrate your twenty-fifth birthday somehow!" the brunette exclaimed. "Is there anyone you want to invite?"

"Nope," Hanna insisted as she ate a spoonful of Nutella. "How about no boys? No Ethan," she added.

"I wasn't inviting him, anyway. I already know you don't like him…"

"Yeah, I don't, and you know why, so we can stop talking about it."

Lately, Spencer had noticed that Hanna was a bit moodier than she usually was.

"What's up with you? Is it your time of the month or something? Are you pregnant?"

Hanna narrowed her eyes. "That's not funny, Spencer."

"I wasn't trying to be funny—"

"Just…I just wanted to hang out with you and Jasmine on my birthday. Nothing else. Please, Spencer," Hanna asked before she put the spoon in the sink and walked back to their bedroom.

* * *

**_Guest: _**_I hope it was satisfactory! _

**_Guest: _**_I'm sorry I haven't updated in a million years. I've had so much going on. I just haven't had the time. _

**_AL3110:_**_There will be more Haleb/Spoby in the next chapter. I promise. There was just a little bit this time. _

**_britneymartina:_**_I hope you liked it :) _

**_Sarah:_**_I'm glad you liked it. I thought there were more stories like this. I guess not. But I'm glad you like it :)_

**_Guest:_**_ Was this the kind of reaction you were thinking of? Lol it'll get better. I promise. _

**_Lovingaustralia04: _**_Good! I'm glad! Hopefully, you liked this. _

**_Guest (Mia): _**_Thanks. I am so sorry for not having it done sooner, but SCHOOL. But thank you so, so much. _

**_Elana01299:_**_Lol NO. Not exactly a good start. I'm the same. I should probably change the rating to M now. But I'm glad you liked it. _

**_TheSweetHello:_**_Trust me, there will probably still be a lot of Spoby because I love them (really, all my other stories are about them and I have a 185 chapter-long one-shot collection that will grow to 230 one-shots by its completion). Thank you! By the way, I LOVE your username and I loved your story, Sanity's Requiem. I just love that name. _

**_Guest:_**_I respond to everyone (if that's what you were responding to), so if you ever want to ask something, just go ahead! Hope you liked it!_

**_vondydora: _**_Thanks! I will try so hard not to disappoint and to do this weighty matter justice. I hope it helps me grow as a writer a bit. But thanks so much for giving it a chance!_

**_Guest (SpobyxHaleb167):_**_Trust me, I love Spoby, Haleb, Spanna, and Taleb more than anything, so there will be a lot of them. I hope you liked this chapter! You will find out what happens to Spencer in Chapter...Thirteen. Unlucky thirteen. _

_Sorry for the long delay! Like I've said, I've had a lot going on lately, so I'm really, really sorry for making you wait for so long! **-Kayson**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: **I hope you guys like the Haleb banter because there's more in this chapter :)_

* * *

**Chapter Three**

"That dress is _hot_, Hanna," Jasmine insisted as Hanna walked out of her bedroom wearing a tight red dress. Hanna sighed. "The shoes are hotter, though," the brunette pointed out as she looked at Hanna's black stilettos. They were horrible for her feet, but considering that she practically _lived _in them, Hanna had gotten used to the feeling. Beauty is pain.

"Thanks," Hanna said as she looked at the shoes again.

Jasmine smiled before falling back on the couch. "Where the hell is Spencer? I thought we were leaving at nine."

"We were and then she needed to run an errand—"

Hanna was cut off by the shrill ringing of the phone. Neither Hanna nor Spencer believed that cell phones were a good idea for someone in such a…lucrative and sketchy line of work, but they'd compromised on a landline. If they ever needed to pack and run, the landline wouldn't leave _too_ many traces of them behind.

Jasmine rushed to answer it first. "Hello? Spencer?"

Hanna raised an eyebrow.

"She's borrowing someone's phone," Jasmine explained. "Where are you? Oh. Okay." After Jasmine hung up, she explained, "She's already there. She borrowed someone's phone. She said it was someone from the club who let her borrow their phone. She just said to come and meet us and she'll introduce us."

"I am going to kill her! We agreed on no guys tonight!" she exclaimed with a pout.

"It'll be fine. It's just someone from the club, Hanna. No Ethan," Jasmine assured her. It didn't remove the pout from Hanna's face.

* * *

Hanna and Jasmine walked into the club to see Spencer talking to two men around the same age as them. One of them was that guy she saw sulking outside of the strip club the other day.

"Hey, Princess," the sulky one greeted.

"Hey, asshole," she greeted similarly. Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "What are you doing here?"

"Hanna, don't be rude," Spencer chastised. Hanna rolled her eyes. "This is Caleb and his friend, Toby."

Hanna glanced over at Spencer. Her tongue lingered on the name _Toby_. It sort of just lingered on her red lips.

"I already know who Caleb is," Hanna said, snapping back to reality. "I just _prefer_ to call him that jerk I met outside the club the other night."

"I didn't even do anything to you!" Caleb exclaimed in self-defense. Hanna just rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Hanna? Just take a shot. It's your birthday," Spencer said with a smile.

"Tequila, please," Jasmine ordered as she leaned on the bar.

Hanna looked at her own shot of tequila skeptically. Though she used it to take the edge off at work, she truthfully didn't enjoy it that much. It had this strong, bitter taste she just couldn't find in her to like.

"Cheers, Princess," Caleb said from beside her.

Hanna rolled her eyes before taking the shot. She winced as it went down. She'd still never get used to it, though she drank at least two shots every day she worked.

"You take that pretty well for someone like—"

"Like what?" Hanna inquired tersely. He was really starting to piss her off.

"Well, really, anyone."

"I don't really like it, so…" she mumbled with agitation in her voice before putting the glass back on the bar. "What is your deal with me anyway? Why do you keep picking on me?" she inquired.

"You're fun to tease."

She rolled her eyes again. She just couldn't stop rolling her eyes around him. He was _that _annoying.

"You might possibly be one of the most immature people I've ever met," she decided.

"At least I made an impression on you."

"Yeah, a bad one."

"But an impression, nonetheless."

* * *

Two hours and several shots of tequila later, both Spencer and Toby were a little more than tipsy. Caleb was still sober (since he was the designated driver). Hanna was just a little tipsy and Jasmine…seemed pretty much sober, despite haven taken at least six shots of liquor since getting there. Maybe she took tequila like a champ because of her Mexican blood.

Spencer dragged Hanna and Jasmine by the wrists to the floor. Hanna had never seen Spencer this drunk before. She was always the first to remind her to stay sober. And somehow…she was _also _the very first person to break that rule.

"Are you sure we shouldn't just leave and get the two of them home?" Hanna inquired as she looked over at Spencer and Toby.

Jasmine shrugged. "I think they'll be fine." Hanna huffed in response. Jasmine looked over at her. "Are you?"

"I told Spencer I didn't want a frickin' party. I don't even _like _celebrating my birthday! And look at what she did…"

"Spencer was only trying to get you to have fun. You need to be a little easier on her, Hanna," Jasmine insisted.

The blonde sighed. "Spencer is an idiot sometimes. I mean…I love her, but…God, she can be so stupid. Her boyfriend is a tool and she doesn't see that. She doesn't see that he's pretty much just another customer who gives her drugs instead of money. I hate him for that," she said bitterly. Her eyes drifted from Jasmine back to Spencer. "Oh, God," she muttered as she noticed Spencer was falling all over the place. "It's definitely time to leave," she insisted. This time, Jasmine didn't bother to argue.

"I'm so, so sorry!" Spencer insisted as Hanna and Jasmine began to pull her away from Toby. "I'll see you again, right?"

Before he could really respond, Hanna and Jasmine had already pulled Spencer away and into the street.

"Guys! What the hell?" Spencer demanded. She could barely stand on her own. She was very drunk.

"Spencer, what the hell?" Hanna snapped. "Why can't you stay sober enough for me to enjoy my birthday?"

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Please. Are you even sober?"

Hanna shook her head in annoyance. "Maybe I should've just left you in there on your own for some pervert to have his way with you."

"Both of you, stop!" Jasmine shouted. "It's getting late. We should be getting back, anyway. You're both tired and had too much to drink. It's time to leave now," she insisted. Jasmine was the most rational of the three. She had a valid point here.

The three walked back to Spencer and Hanna's apartment in silence. When they got inside, Jasmine was the one to take off Spencer's heels and lay her down in bed. When she was finished, she walked into the kitchen to find Hanna sobering up with some water and coffee.

"What the hell was that, Hanna?" Jasmine inquired.

Hanna sighed. "It's not like any of us are virgins, anyway. We're both prostitutes, so I don't see what the big deal is," she said before drinking some coffee.

"So you'd leave her for dead in a club?" Jasmine asked incredulously.

"God, you make it seem like such a big deal! All I did was give her some sarcastic comment. It's not even a big deal," the blonde insisted.

Jasmine was about to argue, but opted to roll her eyes with a frustrated sigh instead. "I'm sleeping in Spencer's room to make sure nothing bad happens to her," she announced before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and walking off.

* * *

Spencer woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. She also noticed, as she got up, that Jasmine was lying beside her.

"Oh, shit. Jasmine, what happened last night?"

Jasmine woke up looking as she did all the time, albeit with messier hair and fresh-faced. "We went out last night for Hanna's birthday—as per your suggestion, might I add—and you got completely shit-faced and almost started doing some guy in the middle of the club. What was his name? Timmy? Tony?"

"Toby?" Though she couldn't really recall much else from the previous few days (her head was throbbing that badly), she could recall his name.

"Yeah. So are you into him or not? Did you offer him something special? You guys seemed pretty close and intimate last night," Jasmine said teasingly.

Spencer shook her head. "No. I think I gave him a dance…that's it. He was a perfect gentleman, even. He didn't try to touch me…he didn't even look like he was in his element being at the club. I mean, you know how there are some guys who are practically professional patrons in a gentlemen's club? He wasn't one of those guys. He looked so uncomfortable. He said a friend convinced him to go there. Too bad he'll never be going anyplace else again."

Jasmine looked a bit scared. "What did you do to him?"

Spencer smirked a bit. "I gave him the best lap dance of his life," she assured her before getting up.

"And did you like it?" Jasmine asked as she got up and followed Spencer.

Spencer bit her lip. "Let's just say that he's easy on the eyes and…I would do it again."

The two of them walked into the kitchen/living room of the big apartment. Hanna was in the kitchen with her head face-down on the island. It was hard to tell whether she was sleeping, passed-out, or just miserable.

"Hanna?" Jasmine asked.

A loud groan came from the mass of messy blonde hair on the counter.

"What happened? I know you didn't have as much to drink as our friend Spencey over here," Jasmine said before she went into the refrigerator and took out a big bottle of sprite. She poured three glasses—two to aid Hanna and Spencer's hangovers, and one just because she liked the taste of it herself.

"What the fuck am I doing with my life?" Hanna asked as she turned her head to the side. Now she was a mass of blonde hair, an arm, and half a face. _I'm young, hot, and my life is defined by sex and alcohol because that's all I have: sex and alcohol. _

"What are any of us doing with life?" Spencer inquired sardonically as she took a sip of sprite.

"Apparently, you're hooking up with random strangers," Hanna replied.

"I didn't hook up with him and he wasn't just some random stranger. God, Hanna."

Hanna finally lifted her head as Jasmine set the sprite in front of her. "Okay, then who was he?"

Spencer bit her lip. "I…he was someone who goes to the club. I gave him a dance…and a really good one," she answered.

"Well, that's basically what you did last night. Speaking of which, please tell me you were wearing underwear, because if you weren't, I think we might need to go and get you a pregnancy test."

Spencer just rolled her eyes at her blonde friend. "Remind me why I'm friends with her again?"

Jasmine rolled her eyes in response. "You're both being absolutely ridiculous. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go home so I can get ready for class, which starts in an hour and a half for me." Jasmine started working at the club around the same time as Spencer and Hanna, nearly four years prior. She disliked it as much as Hanna, but she needed the cash to get through college. Unlike Hanna, she had aspirations for herself and was working to finish medical school, which was why she needed the money from prostitution and stripping.

Spencer groaned in response. "Thanks, Jasmine," Hanna said as she took the sprite Jasmine had poured for her. As soon as the door closed, Hanna turned to Spencer. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'll admit, I've been a bit more cynical than usual—"

"You think?" the brunette interrupted.

"—and I'm sorry," Hanna continued, choosing to ignore her friend. "Are you going to work tonight?"

Spencer thought for a moment. "No. I'm not doing either tonight. I'm spending the night with Ethan," she added with a smile.

_Which is basically prostitution_, Hanna wanted to add. A bit of hatred seethed in Hanna for Spencer's "boyfriend." He had been the one to start her on drugs. He kept giving her drugs. He wasn't making anything any better.

"Are you going?" Spencer inquired, interrupting Hanna's stream of thoughts.

"Oh…yeah."

* * *

**_Guest: _**_I hope you weren't too terribly disappointed by the birthday celebration! I'm glad you liked it and hope you enjoyed it. _

**_Guest:_**_I hope this explained it, but if you didn't get it (I apologize; sometimes I'm subtle to the point where only I get it), the guy Spencer gave a lap dance last chapter was Toby. So technically, you already got Spoby, but I gave you a little more. There will be more by chapter seven :)_

**_Guest01:_**_Thank you! I'm sorry it took me so long to update!_

**_Elana01299: _**_I hope you liked the Spoby and Haleb! And thank you so, so much! _

**_Spencer Salvawhore:_**_I'm sorry if this sounds totally weird, but I really love your stories so I was really excited when I saw your review. My moment of fangirling aside, thank you and I'm glad you like the concept. It just seemed...different to me. _

**_vondydora:_**_I thought it would be an interesting role reversal. I've always had Spencer keeping Hanna sane, but I don't think this is totally OOC. In a lot of ways, I think Hanna is a bit more level-headed than Spencer. It wasn't spectacular, but thank you for having faith in me :) _

**_Sarah: _**_THANK YOUUUU Sarah really you're the best. _

_I'm sorry for my absence on most of my stories lately. I've just been going through a lot with school and some personal stuff, so...I am very sorry. I also had a bit of writer's block with this particular story. Hopefully, it gets better! **-Kayson**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: **Okay, so I basically forgot how to update multi-chapter stories because I haven't done it in so long. _

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Hanna examined her reflection in the mirror. She paused her mundane act of applying her blush. She had never noticed just how…_hollow_ her eyes had looked lately. It looked like all the life had been sucked out of them. They were a dull, lifeless blue; they were not the same lively, jovial hue they had been in her graduation pictures.

She slammed the brush back on the counter in frustration. She nearly jumped when she heard someone walk into the room.

"Hey," Jasmine said as she put her bag down at the vanity right next to Hanna's. If Spencer were there, her vanity would be one on the other side of Hanna's. "You look jumpy."

"Oh…no, I just wasn't expecting you," Hanna replied uneasily.

"I wasn't expecting Trent, either. He told me that there's a new girl coming."

Hanna raised an eyebrow. The last time they had gotten fresh meat was about nine months prior, and she had turned out to be a disaster; some repeat customers—good tippers—had stopped coming and some even requested for her to get fired. She didn't know a damn thing about stripping. It wasn't like it was astrophysics; all you had to do was take your clothes off. Simple. "Have you met her?"

"No. Trent told me to show her around when she comes, though. Apparently, she's foreign and she's still sorting stuff out, but I guess Trent liked what he saw," Jasmine explained with a scoff of disgust. She really disliked Trent. Hanna was pretty sure none of the girls really cared for him, but Jasmine, in particular, disliked him a lot. About a year ago, Trent had cheated her out of some money or something else which Hanna couldn't really recall.

"Do you know her name?" Hanna inquired.

"Clara, Claire, Clarissa…something with a 'cl-'" Jasmine said as she plugged her phone into the outlet on the vanity. "Hopefully she works out better than the last few new girls."

Hanna nodded in agreement.

* * *

Spencer prepared herself in a similar fashion for that night. She was going over her boyfriend's apartment. Contrary to Hanna's beliefs, Ethan never really came over their apartment; for the most part, Spencer went over his apartment or stayed in a motel with him.

Spencer scowled when she thought of Hanna and her relationship with Ethan. She didn't know why Hanna got so jumpy about him; he'd never done anything to her, nor had he ever hurt Spencer. Spencer tried to shrug it off as she put on some perfume. She tried to tell herself that Hanna was just trying to look out for her. Hanna was her best friend; she was _supposed_ to be concerned when it came to Ethan and she was _supposed _to make sure that he didn't do anything to hurt Spencer. That was like her best friend job.

But she just wished Hanna would see that she was fine. She really was. Ethan wasn't dangerous. She liked being around him.

Ethan was better to her than any of the other guys she'd been in a relationship with before. Perhaps she'd been with so many people that Spencer was truly convinced he was the best she'd ever get.

* * *

"Are you going to give any extras tonight?" Jasmine asked as she pulled on a robe when she walked back to the girls' dressing room.

Hanna nodded. "I talked to Johnson—you know, that wealthy client I was telling you about?—and he wanted me for two hours tonight."

"Jeez, two whole hours?" Jasmine asked with surprise. "What does he want to do with you?"

"Honestly, Jasmine, I don't even really care. You should see the amount of money he gives me. I usually charge a lot less, but he gave me a thousand dollars once for an hour of basically nothing," Hanna responded. "I feel like he might just give me a Lamborghini or a Birkin bag," she joked.

"Careful. I might have to steal that Birkin from you," the brunette joked. Hanna smiled at her slightly. "Are you going to be alright? Are you sure he's not caught up in anything shady?"

"Who, Johnson?" The scoff that followed practically spilled out of her mouth. "He's not the type. I just don't get that feeling from him," Hanna assured her friend.

"Yeah, well…you can never be sure. If he's really that rich, he can have people do all sorts of things for him. I mean, hello?"

Hanna just shrugged in response. Kyle Johnson? It didn't seem likely. He was socially awkward—it was painfully and almost pitifully obvious why he needed to pay for sex and it left Hanna wondering whether he was a virgin before he bought her for the night the first time—and not much of a_ people _person; it was unlikely he could ever persuade someone to carry out something like a major crime for him. Furthermore, he didn't seem interested in crime. What would he have to gain from that? At his late twenties, he'd already inherited ownership of a multi-million dollar global technology company, graduated from Harvard—or maybe Princeton or Yale; she couldn't quite recall—, and was well on his way to becoming the wealthiest American CEO under the age of 30.

"Well, I guess you'd better go if you want to get there on time for your date with Mr. CEO," Jasmine teased. "Hey, that rhymed."

* * *

Spencer kissed her boyfriend fervently as she pushed him down onto the couch. They were in Ethan's apartment and this was pretty much the routine whenever she came over.

"Do you have protection?" she inquired as she sat up slightly. In response, he began to search the drawer of the small table beside the couch. She moaned as he pulled her closer. For some reason, this was more pleasurable to her than having sex for money. "I love you," she moaned as his rude hands pushed her shirt up. He moaned in response. She liked to pretend that he said it back to her, although he never had. She feared he never would.

But he began kissing her stomach and up her chest. She got this lightheadedness she couldn't describe and there was a tingling at the bottom of her stomach. This felt like love.

That's what it was, wasn't it?

It had to have been love; there was no way that she would've stayed with him for this long had it not been love. She let him undress her—something she never allowed her clients to do—before taking off his clothes.

* * *

Hanna closed her eyes for a split second, relishing the softness of the bed and sheets. At least Kyle wasn't cheap; he had gotten a room at a very upscale hotel.

A few moments earlier, Kyle had gotten out of the bed and left Hanna to get redressed on her own to accept a phone call. He was standing on the balcony. She sat up and reached over for her clothing. He was pacing back and forth, his posture debonair. She only heard snippets of his conversation.

"…I need you to get rid of him, no matter what."

Hanna stiffened as she heard that. Surely, he was just talking about a lackluster, incompetent employee he was talking about. She reminded herself of that and continued getting dressed without a care. She looked over her shoulder. He didn't seem to take notice of her.

"I don't care what it takes; I want him _gone_."

There was something very finite and urgent about that, but still, Hanna shrugged it off. She waited a few more moments before he came inside.

"How much do I owe you?" Before she got the chance to answer, he just handed her what was in his pocket. "I forgot."

She looked at the large lump of cash. "Thanks," she said quietly before slipping out. And then, just like all the times before, she bowed her head, part in shame, part so no one would suspect her debauchery and crime.

* * *

Hanna arrived home and immediately took a scalding shower—which she always did after giving a client something extra. She then lounged in her room, reading. Lately, she'd been reading a lot of creepy, gory, morbid stuff. She particularly enjoyed the works of Agatha Christie as of late. She certainly hoped those novels were the closest she'd ever get to murder—though she always heard a murder or two related to a person in her line of work. That always scared her.

As she was nearing the end of her novel (the third one of the week), she heard banging and stumbling. Then, she heard Spencer's breezy giggling. Hanna sighed.

_High again. _

She thought about going out to subdue Spencer and then put her to bed, but with the way things were going between them lately…she figured that Spencer could stumble her way back to bed.

Hanna slammed her head against the bare brick wall of her room as she attempted to continue reading her novel. Of course, her mind was too preoccupied with Spencer's current state to continue reading. She sighed with annoyance as she went to go find her brunette roommate.

"Spencer!"

Her voice rang out through the flat. She heard Spencer stumble over something else in her room. Hanna walked into the room and turned on the light. "You're an idiot," she said strongly without an ounce of sympathy.

Spencer just stumbled over to her bed and sat down.

"How much did you do, Spencer?"

The brunette didn't answer but continued to sway back and forth.

"How much?!" the blonde demanded.

"I don't know!" Spencer exclaimed in a similar tone.

"Your veins are going to collapse and you're going to die one day, Spencer. Or you're going to overdose. Or you'll end up dead in a ditch because you were too high to—"

"Yeah, and you're going to die because you were too drunk and choked on your own vomit," Spencer responded with equal cynicism.

"I'm not an alcoholic!" Hanna exclaimed. "I don't get high like you do. I just do it to forget about things."

Spencer avoided her friend's gaze. Hanna sighed. "Alright. Fine. I'm getting rid of all of your drugs," she announced as she looked through Spencer's bookshelves. The brunette decided a long time ago that Hanna was not too keen on the same type of literature as her and assumed that Hanna would never look there. After encountering a metal tin, Hanna opened it to find everything Spencer used—needles, a rubber band, drugs…

Hanna got up and ran out of the room with it.

"Hanna! Don't be an idiot!"

Hanna, however, wasn't listening. She got up and went over to the bathroom, flushing the drugs down the drain. She was at a loss for what she was supposed to do about the needles and everything else, so she just held onto it. She wasn't keen on blood. There would never be a temptation to get high for her. She walked back into Spencer's bedroom empty handed.

High as she was, Spencer still realized what Hanna had done. "I hate you," she said through gritted teeth.

"You'd be dead without me!"

Spencer huffed in annoyance before sliding back on her bed and crossing her arms in defiance. "Leave now."

Hanna turned off the light and stood in the doorway, looking at Spencer. She felt like she had to protect her. It was almost like Spencer was Hanna's daughter. Hanna was rather sure she didn't like that.

But Spencer would be dead without her.

* * *

**_Guest: _**_I have a ton! I'm still so sorry that it took me so long. I just have tech week and I've been working on one-shots and now my own writing...but thank you so, so much for reading. _

**_Sarah:_**_A ha ha more Spanna banter. I just love the two of them fighting. It's kind of cute. Idk they just remind me the most of sisters out of all the girls and their relationships. Unfortunately, no Haleb (if I recall correctly?) and there probably won't be a ton of development in the relationship area of the story until Part II. Thanks for reading/reviewing/liking!_

**_Guest (Halebismylyfe): _**_Thank you so much! I can't really compare myself to any Haleb writers since I really only read Spoby fanfics (and until this, that was all I wrote, too), but...thanks? I'm really glad you liked it. I'll probably write a Haleb one-shot sometime in the future. I don't talk about them enough but I really do love Hanna and Caleb together. But I'm really glad you like my writing and I'm really flattered that you want me to write something else about them! I'll definitely have to think about something and write it down. _

**_Elana01299:_**_ Hmm I did it again with writing about stuff my reviewers mention for five seconds. You'll see what happens with those four...Thanks for reading!_

**_AL3110:_**_You just love anything dark that might remind you of Lana, you :) Yass and Spencer only saved him once (kind of? I think?) in FMN. So that's score like 10.000 for Toby and 1 for Spencer._

**_Guest:_**_Thank you! _

**_Guest (SpobyxHaleb167): _**_At the moment, I don't have Emily or Aria in my plans. I have a lot of OCs but I think the only five characters I have that are canon are Spencer, Toby, Hanna, Caleb, and Jason. You definitely don't have to worry about me putting Aria with Ezra :) Thank you for reading/reviewing!_

_Hopefully, I'll have another chapter within like a week and a half, but I make no promises :) **-Kayson**_

_**P.S.: **Happy birthday, AL!_


	6. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note: **I'm so sorry that I haven't been around in forever!_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"Hanna?"

Hanna was sitting on the couch and painting her toenails cotton candy pink. "Mmm?"

"Hanna…I'm sorry about last night."

The blonde quickly capped the bottle of nail polish and turned to her friend. "Spencer, you have to know that I'm only that harsh on you because I love you. You're like my older sister, you know."

"You're older than me, Hanna," Spencer said with a good-natured eye-roll.

"By a month…not even! By twenty-four days," Hanna answered defiantly.

Spencer quickly crossed the room and sat next to Hanna. "I know you hate Ethan, but he's not a bad guy. He's very sweet to me. You probably don't believe me."

Hanna sighed. "Spencer, he's your drug dealer. Are you really safe with him? Are you really in love with him? Or do you just want some male attention?"

"Hanna—"

Silence interrupted Spencer. Hanna's words hung in the air for a while longer. Spencer knew the later was most likely true, which was more than likely why she didn't respond. Hanna decided to change the subject to the other thing that had been occupying her mind.

"Spence…if you had a client who was on the phone with someone and said they needed to get rid of someone, would you be worried?" Hanna inquired nervously.

"Are you talking about Kyle?" Spencer asked. Her tone of voice implied that her hair was now standing up straight. Hanna nodded in response. "Did you hear who?"

Hanna shook her head. "He just said he needed someone gone, no matter what it took."

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows in concern, but her expression eased after a moment of thinking it over. "Wait, he's the CEO of a really important company, right? Maybe someone just really screwed him over and he wants them fired," Spencer offered.

Hanna nodded eagerly in agreement. Surely, that was it. "Thanks, Spence. I'm going to go get ready for work," she announced before taking her nail polish and sauntering off (carefully) into her bedroom.

* * *

"Hanna, you're overthinking this," Jasmine insisted as she nursed her second drink. Jasmine and Hanna were preparing for another long night. Spencer decided to take the night off just because.

"I don't know…" she trailed off. "You know how they say that it's always the quiet ones? It's _him_. I know it is. I don't know what he's up to, but I know it's no good."

"And you can tell all of that from hearing half of a half of a phone call?" Jasmine asked incredulously.

Hanna was about to reply, but at the moment, they caught a glimpse of the new girl. She was probably almost six feet tall and she had long dirty-blonde hair. "Who is that?"

"Fresh meat?" Jasmine offered. "I know a couple of guys who would like to take a bite of her—"

Hanna furrowed her eyebrows.

"What? Are you worried that people will start to deflect to the other blonde? I think you have something she doesn't," Jasmine assured Hanna as she glanced at her friend's chest.

"No, it's just…something about her seems…weird," Hanna said.

"You haven't even met the girl. Isn't it too early to start judging?"

The blonde, from across the room, shot Hanna a glance with her icy aquamarine eyes. She then turned back to her tour guide, a girl who Jasmine didn't particularly like but Hanna and Spencer had no real issue with.

"She looks like trouble," Hanna responded absentmindedly. There was something sinister about the glimmer in that girl's eyes…

* * *

Spencer wiped away the mascara that was bleeding onto her cheek. _How pathetic_, she thought to herself. How pathetic she must've looked crying in the mirror of a restaurant bathroom on a Tuesday night. Her fingertips had this disgusting feeling due to the fact that they were caked in her own blood. Her skirt was torn at the hem and she was positive her hair looked like a mess.

Well, she'd been an idiot, she supposed.

She hated to admit it, but perhaps Hanna was right. She knew Ethan wasn't a _bad _man really, but that didn't make him a good one, either. He never touched her in any way that was cause for concern…except for perhaps when he grabbed her wrists tonight. She looked down at her slightly red wrists and winced in memory. But that was the only time. The caked-on blood—her blood—was due to her own temerity and negligence.

She winced some more as she watched the red-tinged water go down the drain. How did she let things get this bad? Spencer remembered getting into an argument with Ethan. He seemed almost more than angry. It was like furious was the only word to adequately describe his state. She didn't even know what he was angry about. Sometimes, when he got high, he just got mad and irrational, but she had never been on that end of things. Or maybe she had and she just didn't remember due to how high she was herself.

But anyway, she got so angry and saw red. She took some empty bottle of wine and smashed it against the wall in anger…or something like that. The glass got stuck in her hand. He tried to help her get the glass out, but she snapped at him, only making it worse. She still saw the little shards stuck in her skin, but those were all superficial; she suspected even if they got left in her finger, she'd be perfectly fine.

She didn't know the state of her relationship, either. She wanted to believe that it wasn't over…but on the other hand, part of her thought it would be best if she and Ethan parted ways. Hanna, unfortunately, was right. He gave her drugs and induced those odd nights she was stuck in euphoria and hell until she came down from her high.

She pulled her hair out from its messy bun and ran her fingers through her hair. She tried to make sense of the reflection in the mirror. Where was Spencer Hastings?

This "Spencer" looked so different. She looked tired and sad. There were little red bumps on her arms from injecting so many drugs so many times. Her hair was greasy-looking and unkempt. Most of all, her eyes looked dead and vacant.

Who had she been when she started this?

She was nineteen when she started this lucrative and lascivious profession along with Hanna. At first, she did it to keep up with college bills after her parents basically disowned her. Then, it turned into a way to feed her drug habit after she hung around the wrong people in college. Hanna had always stayed clean. Hanna had different reasons, but Spencer let her demons overtake her.

She liked the power it gave her. She didn't like throwing her body around like it was something disposable, but she liked that electric, potent feeling she got when the boys fawned over her in the half-dark. She liked stripping more than sleeping with guys for money. She didn't like how vulnerable she felt. That was why she tried as hard as she could not to sleep around. She only gave an "extra" service to a client once or twice every two weeks. Hanna did it more and she knew that. She felt guilty because it felt like Hanna was the primary breadwinner and all Spencer did was waste her money on drugs and other vices.

It was at times like this that she realized her father was right; she was a complete and utter failure.

* * *

Hanna walked home on the same route she always took. It was about a seven block walk from the club back to her upscale apartment. She always walked this route in her high heels.

The days were getting shorter and it was just about pitch black when she walked home. It was a good thing she wasn't scared of the dark. Her heels clicked and clacked on the pavement.

About three blocks away from the apartment building, she felt the air get thicker. She slowed her pace until she stopped. She looked over her shoulder, but nobody was there. So why did she _feel _someone watching her? After a moment of scrutinizing her surroundings, she turned back around and began walking again, albeit more slowly and cautiously. She swore she heard soft footsteps trailing close behind.

She walked into the building a few blocks later and noticed that the doorman was not there. She could practically feel her heart racing and pounding against her ribcage. She quickly called the elevator; there was no frickin way she was going to go up the dark stairwell to her fifth floor apartment. She'd seen too many horror movies that started with the ditzy blonde going up the dark stairwell or down the dark hallway.

It took entirely too long for the elevator to come, but within a minute or two, it opened. She quickly ran in, pressed the floor number, and shut the doors. She just wished the damn elevator would move faster.

As the elevator door opened, she quickly walked to the end of the hall where the apartment was. She fumbled for her keys. Where were they? Behind her, she heard the heavy metal door to the stairway slam closed. She was about to faint. Where were those damn keys?

A few seconds later, she found them and fumbled to open the door. As she walked into the room, she slammed the door closed. She tried to catch her breath as her heart gradually slowed down. Spencer was curled up on the couch. She was wearing a sweatshirt, her pajama pants, and her hair in a messy bun.

"What's wrong?" Spencer asked as she turned her head to Hanna.

"Um…" Hanna began as she straightened herself out, "nothing, really." She quickly took off her coat and set down her bag before she sat down about two feet away from Spencer. "What about you?"

Spencer didn't even respond. She just looked frozen in place.

"Are you alright?" Hanna inquired as she pulled her legs onto the couch.

"I got into a fight with Ethan," Spencer said softly with her head still turned away from Hanna.

Hanna stiffened. "W-what happened?" she inquired. Although she didn't like Ethan or his relationship with Spencer, she was still concerned for her best friend.

Spencer sighed as she looked down at her knees. "We just started arguing about…God only knows what. It just…" she trailed off.

"You're just a little shaken, right?" Hanna asked. Spencer nodded silently. "It's not love that keeps you with him, Spencer. It's fear." The blonde tried looking for some sort of reaction from Spencer. "Isn't it?" Spencer remained completely silent. She didn't want to fall into this trap and she didn't want to get lectured yet _again _for her actions. She already had to live with enough guilt and pain, she thought. "You can be done being afraid."

Spencer was silent for a few more moments before she said, "But I can't, Hanna. I live in constant fear all the time that something bad is going to happen."

Hanna watched as her friend got up. It was as though she could hear Spencer's internal soliloquy. Spencer was never a stupid girl. She scored nearly perfect on the SAT's (she got one question wrong in each section) and got accepted to three of the four Ivy League colleges she applied to. She wasn't an idiot, but she let fear control her. She let fear control her in high school and she still allowed fear to take control of her life. Spencer lived in constant fear that one day she'd stick a needle in the wrong place or she'd wind up spending the night with the wrong person or any other combination of her stupid choices and misfortune and she'd wind up dead. She was so afraid.

"What are you scared of, Hanna?"

Spencer sighed and walked into her room.

_What am I not afraid of, Hanna?!_

There was awful silence except for the heat coming on in the apartment. Hanna loathed that silence. It almost pained her. It just made her feel like she screwed up one more thing: one more relationship, one more night…

She wondered where the hell everything started going wrong.

* * *

**_Guest: _**_I think this whole fanfiction is something much darker than I've typically written in the past. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! _

**_Guest:_**_Great! I hope you liked this!_

**_Guest:_**_Thank you! And...to answer your question...it depends on what you consider to be "getting together" because they'll do some couple-y things and have some sweet moments before I consider them to actually get together. I can't really give a definitive answer. It's too spoiler-y and I'm not entirely sure when they'll actually be boyfriend/girlfriend. _

**_starrgalaxy: _**_I'm glad you like it! And thank you so much! _

**_Guest01:_**_Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it! And I'm sorry it took so long to update. _

**_AL3110:_**_Yasssssss Marina er en gudinde. Jeg elsker Marina. CLAIRE IS COMING. It's so exciting. You're about to be born. _

**_Sarah:_**_Thank you dahling. Hopefully I will update again soon. _

**_spencershasting: _**_I hope you liked it and I'm sorry it took me so long!_

_First off, I am really, really, REALLY sorry for not updating in forever. I've just been working a ton on my first book and it's coming along...idk if I like it anymore, but it's progressing._

_To all my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! And to all of my readers in general, I don't feel like I say this enough, but I am really truly so incredibly thankful for all of you guys because your reviews just make me so happy. I'm done being sappy now, so once again, Happy Thanksgiving! **-Kayson**_


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